UN warns Sri Lanka of impending sanctions

The UN report published warns that the failure of Sri Lanka to address past violations has significantly heightened the risk of human rights violations being repeated.

It highlights worrying trends over the past year, such as deepening impunity, increasing militarization of governmental functions, ethno-nationalist rhetoric, and intimidation of civil society.

"Nearly 12 years after the armed conflict in Sri Lanka ended, impunity for grave human rights violations and abuses by all sides is more entrenched than ever," the report said.

The report noted that the current Government is proactively obstructing investigations and trials, and reversing the limited progress that had been previously made.

The report urges enhanced monitoring and strong preventive action by the international community, warning that “Sri Lanka’s current trajectory sets the scene for the recurrence of the policies and practices that gave rise to grave human rights violations.”

Among the early warning signals the report highlights are: the accelerating militarization of civilian governmental functions, reversal of important constitutional safeguards, political obstruction of accountability, exclusionary rhetoric, intimidation of civil society, and the use of anti-terrorism laws.

Since 2020, the President has appointed at least 28 serving or former military and intelligence personnel to key administrative posts, the report states.

"Particularly troubling are appointments of senior military officials who were implicated in United Nations reports in alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the final years of the conflict. These include Shavendra Silva as Army Chief in August 2019 and Kamal Gunaratne as Secretary to the Ministry of Defence in November 2019," it said.

The Government has created parallel military task forces and commissions that encroach on civilian functions, and reversed important institutional checks and balances, threatening democratic gains, the independence of the judiciary and other key institutions, the report highlighted.

The report also documents a pattern of intensified surveillance and harassment of civil society organisations, human rights defenders and victims, and a shrinking space for independent media.

"More than 40 civil society organizations have reported such harassment from a range of security services – including the Criminal Investigation Department, Terrorist Investigation Division and State Intelligence officials," it said.